Inverter Generators, Load Sharing And Other Benefits

As an electrician who has spent the last 15 + years working exclusively with generators, it's my prediction that the standard gasoline engine driven portable generator that has reliably served its purpose for work, recreation, and emergency power is going to quickly fade into obsolescence because of a new and much improved technology.

Several years ago, Honda engineers created a very special generator. The gas engine stayed the same, but the way that it made electricity changed radically. Despite being more expensive than a traditional generator, the inverter generator has been taking a huge amount of market share in the 1 KW to 3 KW market and are also available up to 6 KW. Though Honda was the first to economy with the technology, most other generator manufacturers have also introduced inverter generators into their lineups.

HOW DOES THE INVERTER GENERATOR MAKE POWER?.

Traditional small portable generators use a single phase generator that must be turned at 3600 rpm in order to generate the correct voltage. Simple enough, but single phase generators are relatively inefficient and large when compared to a three phase generator.

The inverter generator uses an AC three phase generator to create power. Since it is single phase AC power that is needed, the engineers used electronics to take the three separate sine waves and flatten (rectify ) them into a DC voltage. Once that was accomplished, they used more electronics (inverter) in order to turn that DC power into a useable and an remarkably pure single phase sine wave that would power even the most sensitive equipment even better than the old standard generators.

INVERTER GENERATORS COST MORE, SO WHY WOULD I BUY ONE?.

- Inverter technology has made these lower KW machines much lighter. The three phase generator is much lighter than the equivalent single phase generator.

- The inverter generator is quieter. The traditional generator runs at a potentially deafening 3600 RPM regardless of load. Despite using the identical engine to a traditional generator, the inverter generator electronically monitors the load and then automatically makes adjustments to engine speed in order to provide as much output as is needed.

- Save gas and lower emissions. As explained earlier, the engine speed is adjusted automatically to the electric load. It's simple, lower rpm's mean less gasoline used and less emissions.xEOL.xBL.-My personal favorite feature is the ability of the inverter generator to parallel or "load share" with another identical machine. This means that I can use a single lightweight small generator to power my tools, but when I need to power my RV or house, I just use the parallel kit and hook the two machines together to double the available output.